Posts Tagged ‘many’

Question by farrel t: how many cars can a lionel engine pull?
What engine pulls the best?

Best answer:

Answer by Ben HThis, truthfully, is a simple question with a very complex answer.

Basically, every locomotive is able to exert a pulling force, and every car has a certain amount of force required to pull it. In order to properly answer your question, we need to examine each of these.

The amount of pulling force a locomotive can exert is related to two factors: the torque available from the motor, and the ability of the wheels to grip the rails(tractive effort). Some locomotive designs are limited by tractive effort, and others are limited by torque.

For most Lionel locomotives made before the 1990s, you’ll find that tractive effort is by far the greatest limiting factor.

Historically, the oldest Lionel locomotives had driving wheels(drivers) which were nickel plated, giving them a smooth surface. These would tend to not grip the rail very well, and would slip very easily.

Other, typically lower-end, locomotives would tend to have drivers which were cast from sintered(powdered) iron. These tend to be rougher, and so will actually grip the track better.

In the 1950s, Lionel came up with Magnetraction, which turns the wheels into permanent magnets, thus allowing them to grip the track more tightly. As a consequence of this, all magnetraction engines also must have sintered iron drivers, thus this alone will increase the pulling power.

There’s a catch to magnetraction, however-it will only work with steel track. Lionel’s traditional “tubular” track is steel, and the magnetraction works fine, as is Lionel’s new Fastrack and track from the Gargraves corporation. Other modern track, however, such as that from MTH(Realtrax) and Atlas O, are made of nickel silver, and thus magnetraction is ineffective on them.

In any case, adding weight to any locomotive increases the tractive effort. More expensive locomotives tend to, as a general rule, weigh more, and thus will almost always pull better. Adding some lead weight to any locomotive can, in most cases, dramatically increase its pulling power.

In the 1990s, Lionel began making extensive use of traction tires, which are small rubber bands wrapped around some of the driving wheels. These grip any type of track very effectively, and greatly increase tractive effort. With most modern Lionel locomotives, the limit of pulling power is how much torque the motor can exert. Most modern locomotives have just about the same motor, so most are pretty much equal.

Now, let’s examine the nature of the cars being pulled.

All cars, of course, have a certain amount of mass. This comes into play when starting the train from rest or accelerating, however once the train is in motion, the amount of mass in the train doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.

What does make a difference, however, is how freely rolling the cars are. Older cars had blunt-ended axles which rolled in cast-zinc bearings. These require a fair amount of force to move. By contrast, newer designs(1970s and newer) typically used needlepoint axles which roll in Delrin plastic bearings. These roll with almost no resistance.

When dealing with a modern locomotive pulling a train of modern-era cars, it’s entirely reasonable to expect to be able to pull trains well in excess of 50 cars. For an older locomotive pulling older cars, anywhere from 4-10 might be a reasonable size.

When I got a message from a fellow railfan on a Yahoo group that 19G had 8 engines all of Conrail heritage… NS D8-40CW 8420 NS D8-40CW 8315 NS GP38-2 5329 NS GP38-2 5277 “CRQ” CSX GP15-1 1554 “CRQ” NS GP38-2 5312 NS SD45-2 1705 NS SD45-2 1703 …I fell on the floor, started twitching, blacked out, and woke up to an EMS with an AED. The first scene is 19G barrelling through Myerstown in good light at HP 79.9, there is a hotbox / dragging equipment detector here. Unfortunately, when I got up to Hershey to catch him working (that video will be up soon), the sun had disappeared, but nevertheless, I got to catch it again chugging up to speed. The date is April 2, 2009, in the afternoon. RARITIES: CSX 1554 one of only 2 GP15-1’s in Conrail paint, NS 1705 and 1703, 2 of only 6 SD45-2’s on the system. Plus the fact that 8 exConrail units got lashed together!

Question by Angel2008: How many of you are crazy about trains? you know take pictures and collect stuff? ?
What got you started and how old were you when you started?
What is it that fascinates you most about trains?
Do you work for a railroad? Do you have a model train track?
What do you collect?

Best answer:

Answer by TrainchaserI got started back when I was 3 years old. My dad would take me out quite often to see the Amtrak train run through town. I can’t really describe what it is about trains that I love, just that it’s big machines moving America. And railroads are an ingenious, yet simple concept.

I mainly take pictures, about 5,000 photos to date. Not many compared to many railfans.

Question by Geno S: how many model train locomotives i could fit on a 50×100 inch board? i am an h.o. scale modeler.?
i am planning to model after the burlington northern santa fe railroad and i am asking this question for some help. i am also planning to have around 24 to 26 freight cars on the layout or should i go for n scale model trains instead. please tell me and my name is eugene.

Best answer:

Answer by mariner31A 4′ x 8′ sheet of plywood is always a good START, but for HO scale you can do little more than a basic oval with a siding or two (STILL FUN).

So 10 coal-cars (gondolas) will be over 4 1/2 feet !! N-scale is 1:160 (or roughly half the size of HO scale… so you get almost TWICE as much railroad for the space !!

Now what to PICK (scale) depends partly on what you wish to model !! You COULD do HO scale on a 4’x8′ sheet of plywood if you are ONLY doing a small yard with no run-trough trains (20 gondola cars would go from end to end of your “layout”.

I spent the last decade working on an N-scale “Shelf” layout (runs around the walls of a room) modelling the Union Pacific Stockton Yard. I went with N-scale after doing some sketching and realizing HOW little room a 10 x 12 foot room would allow.

Question by : How Many Cars will an N Scale Bachmann 2-8-0 Consolidation Pull?
Im building an N scale model railroad and I plan on buying this engine. Im going to use it to pull atlas trainman 70 ton Santa Fe ore cars and I need to know how many I can pull with this engine on an over under figure 8 loop. Im using the Bachmann N Scale Pier set to set the height.

Best answer:

Answer by WdlaneWhile I can’t answer your question directly, real railroad grades were generally up to 2% (1 foot rise in 100 running feet = 1%) Anything more than that was pretty a steep grade. Model railroad planning is not much different. I am guessing that any pier set as you mentioned would much be a steeper grade that 2%. If you kept your grades realistic the cars you could pull would also be more correct.

I have seen especially N Scale locomotives pull more cars than the prototype locomotive they are representing. I guess it is a physics thing.

Question by Steven D: How many plan to run trains around the Christmas tree this year?
Trains have been running under trees for most of a century now. It’s time to dig them out and do a little service work. Clean the tracks with a green scrubby and oil the motor and gears. Check the wires from the transformer to the track, if it’s missing any insulation replace it. Model Railroading the hobby that lasts a life time.